Presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. has raised concerns over the Federal Reserve’s upcoming digital payments system, FedNow, and warned that it could be the first step towards the government banning Bitcoin.
According to Kennedy, the government’s use of a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) could lead to “financial slavery and political tyranny,” as it would allow the government to surveil citizens’ financial affairs and limit their spending.
Kennedy has compared FedNow to the government’s seizure of gold 90 years ago, and said that it could be used to “ban and seize bitcoin.” The FedNow payment system is set to launch in July and will allow for faster and cheaper money transfers.
Several members of the crypto industry have raised concerns over the government’s recent crackdown on the industry, describing it as “operation chokepoint 2.0.” Law firm Cooper & Kirk has called the “backroom war on crypto” unlawful, unconstitutional, and arbitrary.
Kennedy is the nephew of President John F. Kennedy and the son of the U.S. attorney general and New York Senator Robert F. Kennedy. He has warned that the government could use digital currency to freeze citizens’ assets or limit their spending if they fail to comply with arbitrary rules.
He has urged citizens to be wary of the government’s use of CBDCs as a way to “usher in a new wave” of digital currencies in response to the Covid-19 pandemic and banking crisis.